the morning after
by DahliaRose83
Summary: There was no trace of Damon and nothing indicated that he had ever been here. Ric hadn t really expected anything different. (Sequel to "maybe this is destiny") Damon/Alaric


**Hey everyone! When I wrote "Maybe this is destiny" it was intended as a one-shot. But then I got a few requests for a sequel and luckily those two just keep inspiring me. Writing this I got an idea for another story, so I decided to turn this into a little series. It will take place through the whole of season 3, but I don`t know how many parts there will be, yet. Of course I`ll take some liberties with the plot. So in my version school has already started while Stefan is still off with Klaus and Ric hasn`t spent the whole summer on the Gilbert`s couch, but moved into his own room in the house already.**

**Well now, on to the story. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.**

**(Disclaimer: Sadly I don`t own Vampire Diaries. If I did, Ric would still be alive and doing naughty things with Damon.)**

The morning after

Alaric was woken way too early for his liking by the ringing of his alarm clock. Groaning he turned it off, before lying back down for a few more minutes, replaying last night`s events in his mind. Damon sitting in his bedroom, like he did most nights lately, the vampire taking him up on the offer to share his bed, although sleep had been the last thing on his mind. Blushing Alaric remembered the kisses, the touches and everything that followed.

With a sigh he finally got up. There was no trace of Damon and nothing indicated that he had ever been here. Ric hadn`t really expected anything different. But he had hoped, which was quite stupid really. He knew Damon. The vampire would most likely act like nothing had happened. And he should do the same. He should write last night off as a one-time thing and just forget about it.

Deciding to do just that, Ric quickly showered and went about his morning routine, before going downstairs to prepare breakfast. He could hear voices before he reached the kitchen and automatically slowed down. Jeremy was never up this early. He usually had to drag the teen out of bed.

So this could only mean Damon had decided to stay for breakfast. Which wasn`t all that unusual. He did that often lately. No reason to worry or start misinterpreting the vampire`s actions. No reason to get his hopes up.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself Alaric entered the kitchen, forcing himself to call out a cheery good morning. Elena was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in her hand. She greeted Ric with a smile. The teachers eyes however were immediately drawn to Damon, who was standing at the stove, flipping pancakes.

"Morning Ric." the vampire called over his shoulder, not even bothering to turn around. Just like any other morning, Ric reminded himself. He grabbed a mug of coffee and joined Elena at the table, where he busied himself with the newspaper. But he was all too aware of the vampire standing just a few feet behind him.

After trying to concentrate on the newspaper for a few minutes and failing miserably he got up again. "I`m going to wake Jeremy." he announced, before leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs.

To his surprise the teen was already awake. He opened the door half dressed and promised to be down in a few minutes. "Hurry up, breakfast is almost ready." Ric told him. "Is Damon making pancakes again?" Jeremy asked, reminding him once more how much the vampire`s morning visits had become a constant in these last weeks. Nothing unusual. Just a regular morning.

Ric nodded, before returning to the kitchen where Damon was just about to serve breakfast. By now the teachers nerves had calmed a bit. He took his seat at the table and allowed Damon to load his plate with food. "Thanks. I could get used to this." he joked, grinning at the vampire. He thought he saw a flicker of uncertainty in Damon`s eyes. But he wasn`t really sure. It was gone in a second, replaced by the trademark smirk.

"Well, don`t expect me to play cook every morning or I might start charging you for my services." Damon winked at him, making the teacher blush as he thought of Damon´s other 'services'. Luckily Jeremy`s appearance saved him from answering that one. They ate in comfortable silence and he marveled again at how normal this felt.

Soon enough it was time to leave. Alaric herded the kids outside, risking one last glance at Damon, before he got into his car. The vampire was looking at him and their eyes met for a brief second, before Damon turned away and went to his own car. Trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding, Ric started the car and drove off towards school, hoping that work would take his mind off a certain blue eyed vampire and the things he could do with those sinful lips.

Alaric made it through the school day with relative ease. Concentrating on his work and his students helped him to push all thoughts of Damon to the back of his head. He taught his lessons, made sure Jeremy got lunch (that didn`t consist of candy) and checked to see if Elena was alright. Stefan`s departure still tore at her, but she held up pretty well.

He used his free period to talk to Matt, who had almost fallen asleep during first period. The young man shrugged it off, mumbling something about night shifts at the Grill and the fact that he was still coping with the break up, even though he was happy for Caroline and Tyler. Alaric told him it would get easier in time and made a mental note to talk to the owner of the Grill about the night shifts.

Before he really knew it, school was over. Elena stuck her head into his office, telling him she would go to the library with Caroline and Bonnie to work on a project. Ric nodded and told her to be home before it got dark, smiling when she only rolled her eyes. He gathered his belongings, had a short talk with Jeremy`s English-teacher about the progress the younger Gilbert sibling was making and then went home.

By the time Alaric reached the Gilbert house, Jeremy had already left to start his shift at the Grill. He used the momentary quiet to prepare his notes for the next day and was just contemplating whether to start grading papers now or leave it for the weekend, when Damon showed up.

As always the vampire didn`t bother to knock. Instead he let himself in and flopped down on the couch like he lived there. Sometimes Alaric wondered if he had secretly moved in and just forgot to tell them. Sighing he put the stack of essays back into his bag (He would obviously be grading papers on the weekend) and turned his attention to Damon.

"Liz got another lead on Stefan." the vampire murmured, his expression unreadable. "Do you want to check it out?" Alaric asked. Damon hesitated for a split second, but then he nodded. "If you`re game for a little trip." Ric couldn`t help but smile at that. "Sure. Just give me a few minutes." He put his stuff away and wrote a note for Elena and Jeremy, stating that he had to take care of something and would be back in a few hours.

Damon was waiting outside when Ric finally left the house. He was leaning against his car, arms crossed, eyes half closed. To the outsider he might look casual, but Ric knew him well enough to notice his apprehension. The vampire still wasn`t sure if he was doing the right thing. "Ready to go?" Alaric asked. "I`m ready if you are." Damon shot back.

The hunter put his bag into the trunk, that was already loaded with weapons. But you could never be careful enough. They got into the car and Damon drove off. Both men were quiet, the low tune of the radio the only sound.

"Where are we going?" Ric asked after a while. "Small town not too far from here. But I have to warn you. From what I gathered it won`t be pretty." the vampire told him. The teacher just nodded. They were tracking a vampire on a rampage. He hadn`t expected anything pretty. After all he had seen what Stefan had done to those two women.

"He`s still with Klaus, isn`t he?" Damon nodded, his lips set in a frown. "I think so." It was obvious that he was still blaming himself for Stefan´s dilemma. Alaric didn`t know what else to say. There were no words that could help or comfort the dark haired vampire.

The rest of the drive passed in silence. Thanks to Damon`s reckless driving it only took them a little over an hour to reach their destination, a small farm house a little out of town. Three police cars were parked in the driveway and Ric could see a few officers walking around with shocked looks on their faces.

"I didn`t know the police would still be here." he commented. When they looked into the other leads there had been no-one around. They usually either appeared a day or so after it had happened or they were there before the police even caught wind of it. This was a recent crime scene and that fact unnerved Ric. They couldn`t really just barge in and snoop around with the police still here.

"Neither did I." Damon remarked. But he seemed unconcerned. He parked his car in the driveway and got out, like showing up on a crime scene was the most normal thing in the world. Alaric had a bad feeling about this, but he followed the vampire anyway.

It took the first officer about five seconds to spot them and step in their way. "I`m sorry sir, this is a crime scene. I must ask you to leave." Damon flashed him a brilliant smile and showed him what Ric supposed was a fake drivers license, before staring directly at him. "We`re from the FBI, as you can see. We`re hunting a serial killer and believe this could be his work. I`m sure you won`t mind if we have a look around?"

The officer nodded like a robot. "Of course not. Please, go ahead." Damon marched towards the house and Ric hurried after him. "I can`t believe you just compelled the police to think we`re FBI agents." The vampire just shrugged. "It was a spontaneous idea. You don`t have to say it. I know I`m brilliant." Ric shook his head, wondering, not for the first time, what he had gotten himself into. But no-one had forced him to be here. It was his decision.

The officers let them pass without further question, after the first one had called out that they were from the FBI and they entered the building unhindered. Alaric looked around and shuddered. It seemed like the whole furniture was broken and scattered across the house. There were splashes of blood on a few walls and more blood on the floor of the hallway. Peering into the rooms they passed, they were met with the same sight. The worst however was the living room.

It was littered with pieces of furniture and broken glass, the walls smeared with blood. The door was ripped off its hinges and thrown across the room. In the centre of all that carnage stood the only piece of furniture that hadn`t been destroyed, a large couch that had once been white. Now it was dyed a deep crimson. Sat on the couch were two women and a young boy, all three of them ripped to shreds and then put back together again.

Alaric didn`t have to ask if this was Stefan`s work. He had seen the corpses in that old farm house. It was the same here, only worse. And he could also see it in Damon´s eyes. The guilt he felt, because his brother was so far gone. Maybe too far.

"We should head back." the teacher murmured after a while, breaking the heavy silence. Damon nodded. They made their way back outside and Ric breathed a sigh of relief. He waited in the car, while Damon compelled the policemen again. "I told them to get rid of the bodies and declare it as a family tragedy. And to forget about us." he explained while they drove off. "Good." Ric murmured, not knowing what else to say.

Again they drove in silence, but Damon wasn`t pushing the speed limit this time. When they reached Mystic Falls it was already dark. Damon parked in front of the Gilbert home and waited while Ric got out and retrieved his bag. When he leaned down to say goodnight he found the vampire staring straight ahead, his eyes vacant. He seemed lost in thought.

"Hey, if you want to talk or... whatever. You know where to find me." Alaric offered. Damon just nodded, without looking at him. "Okay, goodnight then." the teacher murmured, before he went to the door. He glanced back one more time, to find Damon still in the same position and then went inside.

The house was dark and quiet. Alaric put his weapons away, before going in search of the Gilbert siblings. He found Jeremy in his room, listening to music over his headphones and fully engrossed in drawing. The teen told him that Elena would spend the night at Bonnie`s and assured his guardian that he had eaten at the Grill. Ric made him promise not to stay up too long, since tomorrow was a school day, before he went to his own room.

He wasn`t really surprised to find Damon sitting in his usual spot by the window. Somehow he had expected him to be there. What surprised him however, was the pained look on the vampire`s face. Usually Damon was an expert at schooling his features. That he had dropped his mask of indifference and allowed Ric to see his pain meant a lot to the teacher. It was proof of how much the vampire trusted him.

Alaric closed the door and crossed the room, meeting the vampire, who had moved at lightning speed, halfway. He pulled Damon into his arms and smiled slightly when he returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around Ric`s middle. They stood like that for a few seconds, before Damon pulled away slightly to look at him. His shocking blue eyes glittered with an emotion Ric couldn`t identify. Then Damon crushed their lips together, they tumbled onto the bed and the teacher abandoned all coherent thought for the rest of the night.


End file.
